M A I N   N E W S

Gastroenteritis claims five more lives

Jalandhar/Hoshiarpur, May 31
Five more gastroenteritis deaths were reported from Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur areas during the past about 24 hours. While three deaths were reported from the Jalandhar area, two persons died of suspected diarrhoea in the Hoshiarpur region.

In Jalandhar, the death toll of suspected gastro patients reached 10 when three more deaths were reported from Bhargo Camp and New Swaraj Ganj areas today.

As soon as people of these localities came to know about the deaths due to suspected gastroenteritis, panic spread in Swaraj Ganj area. This area was not marked by the corporation and medical authorities as gastro-affected area earlier.

The deceased were identified as Kewal Krishan (47) and Diwan Chand (70). The third death was reported from Bhargo Camp area, which was badly affected by the disease.

Following reports of deaths, teams of corporation and medical officials rushed to the area and collected samples of drinking water.

Dr Raman Trehan, District Health Officer said he was unware of any fresh death due to gastroenteritis. He said none of the deaths as reported in the media, had been confirmed as gastro-related death so far.

Medical authorities have been pressed into service and temporary medical camps have been set up in Garha. Upkar Nagar, Bhargo Camp, Ekta Nagar and Chapali Chowk areas.

More than 600 suspected gastro-related cases had been reported from these areas so far, sources said.

Meanwhile, the report of the magisterial inquriy ordered by the Deputy Commissioner to probe into the cause of the deaths in the area was yet to come. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr A.K. Gupta, said the report prepared by the ADC, Mr Mohinder Kainth, was almost ready and it would be submitted to him tomorrow morning.

Hoshiarpur and its surrounding areas are in the grip of diarrhoea these days. Two diarrhoea deaths have been reported from the area so far. Seven patients, all migrant labourers, from Mehngrowal village were admitted to the local Civil Hospital and a private hospital yesterday, out of whom Naveen died early this morning. Amit died in the village yesterday. Other diarrohoea patients have been identified as Sagiv, Narni, Sudarshan and Johanson, who have been admitted to the local Civil Hospital, and Piare and Yonous, who have been admitted to private hospital.

Dr Y.C. Markan, Civil Surgeon, Hoshiarpur, along with a team of doctors, visited Mehngrowal village today and inspected the site where migrant labourers were residing. He said migrant forest labourers consumed contaminated water drawn from an abandoned well located outside the village. This was the reason why majority of them came into the grip of diarrhoea, he added.

Condition of all those admitted to hospitals was under control, he added. Most of the migrant labourers had left Mehngrowal village following a panic. The abandoned well had been covered and 11 other wells around the village had been chlorinised. Chlorine tablets had been distributed among the inhabitants. They have been advised to consume only boiled water after chlorinsation. The sarpanch of the village has been provided with chlorine tablets to meet the requirement of the people living in the area.

Dr Markan said he had instructed al municipal councils, particularly that of Hoshiarpur, to improve sanitary conditions and ensure chlorinisation of drinking water at the water supply sources of their respective areas. He criticised Hoshiarpur municipal authorities for neglecting sanitation in the city.

According to sources in the Civil Hospital, about 100 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in the emergency ward of the hospital since May 23. Majority of them have been discharged after treatment.

Dr S.K. Narad, a medical practitioner, said there had been a tremendous increase in diarrhoea cases in and around Hoshiarpur during recent days. He said around 25 diarrhoea patients visited his clinic everyday. Other private clinics in the city were also receiving similar cases. — OC, PTI